The Houtman Lab at CSUF studies the song and mating behavior of the sister species Anna’s and Costa’s Hummingbird. We are based mainly at Boyd Deep Canyon Reserve in the Sonoran Desert, but conduct research throughout California.
This male Costa’s hummingbird flies in to feed, then briefly buzzes the camera before returning to the feeder
Probably the same male again, taking a long drink while hovering. Te sound has been removed from this clip due to the presence of distracting anthropogenic noise.
I am always excited, but also a little nervous, when we start finding nests with eggs. It means the field season is in full swing and there’s no more time for slip-ups. This year, the first nest with eggs was in the backyard of the Nickersons, neighbors of our field station at Deep Canyon. They kindly allowed me to post pictures of the nest. Photos by Bryan Nickerson.
A science writer colleague was amused by a comment I made about the recent rains being enough to ensure that my graduate students can collect enough data to complete their theses. When you work with nectar feeders, you think about things like this… Anyway, she wrote a blogpost about our work. You can tell she’s a professional science writer - it’s beautifully written.
Storm clouds in Deep Canyon. Note the Costa's male hummingbird at the top left of the tree, undaunted by the rain.
Here we all are gathered at Krista’s wedding to Jay. Or, to use their field names, the wedding of P. gigas and Mittens. Mr. and Mrs. Mittens will be joining us in the field for the Valentine’s Day weekend. Which is pretty dedicated behavior from a newly wed graduate student.
Houtman Lab at Krista & Jay's wedding reception From left to right: Erin, Cory, Mark, Laney (limpet researcher), Anne, Uyen
A friend shared a link to a nest cam of Allen’s Hummingbird. It’s addictive! Even though we are surrounded by Costa’s Hummingbirds (which are just a little bit cuter than Allen’s, but maybe I’m prejudiced) it’s fun to be able to see inside the nest so clearly. You don’t even need binoculars! Below is the only photo of Allen’s Hummingbird that Will appears to have taken, high in the trees at the Cal State Fullerton Arboretum.